DIY Whipped Body Butter Recipe – with essential oils

Looking for a special home crafted gift idea? Look no farther! This whipped body butter recipe is irresistibly smooth, incredibly fragrant, ridiculously easy to make and wonderfully healthy for your skin!

There are a lot of homemade body butter recipes out there, but what sets this one apart is the subtle mint green color from grapeseed oil and my fantastic essential oil blends.

Each of these essential oil blends have therapeutic qualities and rich fragrances. Any essential oil suitable for topical use can be added to this body butter recipe to suit your tastes.

Many single oils make wonderful aromas when added to homemade skin care products. You might like to try lavender, peppermint, wild orange, bergamot or patchouli.

Body Butter Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups shea butter (unrefined is best)

1/2 cup coconut oil (extra virgin is best)

1/4 cup grapeseed oil

Essential oils

Directions:

Measure out shea butter and coconut oil (which will be solid at a room temperatures below 76 degrees) and melt over medium-low heat in a double broiler, stirring constantly until there are no lumps left.

Let cool about 30 minutes, then stir in the grapeseed oil and essential oil(s) of your choosing.

Cover the oil mixture and freeze for about 20-30 minutes, or refrigerate for 1-2 hours. You want the mixture to start to solidify but not completely harden, a consistency similar to soft wax or softened butter.

Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and whip until soft and fluffy.

Spoon into a clean glass jar and smooth over skin anytime you need extra moisture.

Tips:

This mixture is designed to be oily and absorb slowly into your skin. However, if you prefer to make it less oily, simply add 1.5 teaspoons of either cornstarch, tapioca starch, or arrowroot starch.

If the mixture won’t whip or stay whipped, you need to chill it longer.

If the mixture has lumps in it after you’ve whipped it, let it set to soften a bit and then try again.

Store in a cool area and if your home gets above 75°F regularly, you may want to keep it in the refrigerator.

The body butter is designed to melt into your skin as it goes on. It will be a little oily at first but it absorbs quickly and leaves your skin very soft. It is perfect to apply after a shower, letting it soak into your skin before you get dressed.

Written by:: Rachel

Rachel Shivers has written 63 post in this blog.

Rachel is a family and infant photographer in Manhattan, Kansas. She enjoys adventuring with her two-year-old son, innovating with fresh ingredients in the kitchen and falling in love all over again with her handsome hubby.

I have always used natural as often as possible and wanted to learn about essential oils….can you teach me…what oils do you use…I’ve been to 1 other person but she was soooo unorganized and very direct sales pushy. I hated it and learned little.
Thank you, Suzanne

Rachel (and Annie) – this is fantastic! I’ve been bookmarking recipes for body butter to make with Young Living oils, but I love LOVE your combinations, and I’m super-excited to try them! Thank youuuu!

I made 1 bath and it came out perfect then made a second and it came out a bit more oily/greasy almost. Do you think it’s possible I can re-melt it and add an ingredient to cut down the oily-ness just a little? The second batch actually came out shiny on my skin but I really don’t want to throw it out :/ thanks for any help possible this is a great recipe and gift idea.

So I’ve tried doing this twice. It’s not rocket science but I’m having some trouble 🙁 the first time I made it, I did not whip it long enough so it wasn’t fluffy. So I’ve tried it again, whipped it longer and it came out perfect EXCEPT it’s too oily!! When I pick it up, it literally just starts to run. I’m not sure if it had to do without the fact that my house was warm. I did put it in the fridge over night. I’m not sure what went wrong. Any suggestions??

Hi Candie 🙂
After doing a bit of problem solving, we updated this post recipe to include a solution if you feel like it is too oily. For every 4 ounces of body butter, you will need to add 1.5 teaspoons of either corn starch, or tapioca starch, or arrowroot starch. Arrowroot seems to be a popular favorite among my friends. I hope this helps and please feel free to share if you found another solution, as I’d love to add that to the post too.

Hi Cassie,
Yes, you can try any different oils, jojoba is so great for your skin. Make small batches though so you can play around with it and find the best oil for your exact skin, everyone is different 🙂

thanks for posting! i’d love to make this. I’m thinking ahead to working with the shea butter. i live in a cold climate and it gets to be like a rock. do you know approximately how many grams or ounces 1/34 shea butters would be? i looked at a converter online and it said about 13.5 ounces.. does that sound about right to you? thanks again 🙂

Hi Michaela 🙂
After doing a bit of problem solving, we updated this post recipe to include a solution if you feel like it is too oily. For every 4 ounces of body butter, you will need to add 1.5 teaspoons of either corn starch, or tapioca starch, or arrowroot starch. Arrowroot seems to be a popular favorite among my friends. I hope this helps and please feel free to share if you found another solution, as I’d love to add that to the post too.

there were some interesting question. Where do I find your answers to these questions. I have some of the same questions and I don’t want to be redundant with the questions. Biggest question how can it be fixed if it gets to oily? What can be done to prevent this from happening????

Hi D –
After doing a bit of problem solving, we updated this post recipe to include a solution if you feel like it is too oily. For every 4 ounces of body butter, you will need to add 1.5 teaspoons of either corn starch, or tapioca starch, or arrowroot starch. Arrowroot seems to be a popular favorite among my friends. I hope this helps and please feel free to share if you found another solution, as I’d love to add that to the post too.

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I whipped up a batch and love it, but didn’t use enough essential oils (alright, honestly, I used orange and vanilla extract). My boyfriend does not like the shea butter smell. Do you think i could just re-whip and add essential oils (you can’t smell the orange/vanilla at all)? Or do I need to try again?

I made this today and it is spectacular. I actually prefer it oily. I have sensitive, dry skin so it doesn’t take long for the oil to absorb into my skin. My six year old loves it too. Can’t wait until we use it after bath time. A little goes a long way which stretches my dollar. Will be making it again.

Thanks for this lovely recipe and the in depth descriptions and tips on how to make it! I have made it, just breaking it down into Tbsp measurements so I could make a smaller batch and totally love it. I tweaked it a bit in terms of which oil I used, and to me this really is the beauty of these recipes, that given the proportions of your recipe it is easily tweakable to personal preferences 🙂 I also posted about this body butter and referred to your site: https://sewannaf.wordpress.com/2016/01/19/silky-soft-grapefruit-body-butter-recipe/

this looks like a nice recipe but many citrus essential oils (lemon, bergamot, grapefruit, lime, etc) are phototoxic meaning they can cause one to be much more sensitive to the sun for up to 2 days after applying them on the skin. there are citrus oils which are less photosensitive which are usually steam-distilled. sweet orange & tangerine are usually okay and it looks like wild orange is too. the cold pressed citrus essential oils, which are what most people start out buying, are typically used instead for homemade cleaning products. you can read more about it here: http: //www.learningabouteos.com/index.php/2013/08/06/phototoxicity-how-to-stay-safe-in-the-sun/

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Hi, We’re Annie & Will!

Annie is from Kansas, Will is from West Virginia. We are a husband and wife that loves to travel, attend live shows, eat good food and drink coffee together. Life is best lived - and dreamed - together! Learn more about us, and feel free to contact us too. We are glad you are here!